Serbia and coal

Most of the energy in Serbia comes from coal or hydroelectric dams. Energy consumption is expected to exceed energy production by 2012 and Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), Serbia's largest energy producer, is looking to add 1400 MW of coal-fired power, as well as develop Đerdap III, a hydroelectric dam with approximately 2.4 gigawatts of power.

According to its website EPS owns and operates power stations with a total installed capacity of of 8,359 megawatts (MW). Of this, 5,171 MW is from lignite-fired thermal power plants, 353 from gas and liquid fuel-fired combined heat and power plants and 2,835 from hydro power plants. EPS also operates three power plants with a total capacity 461 MW which it does not own.

Existing coal power plants
EPS owns and operates three coal-fired power stations. These are the:
 * TPP Nikola Tesla Power Plant with an existing capacity of 2,662 MW. The plant is the largest coal plant in Serbia, providing 47 percent of the total capacity of the country's electric power system.
 * TPP Kolubara Power Plant, a 245 megawatt coal which is located in the village Veliki Crljeni; and
 * TPP Morava Power Plant, a 108 megawatt lignite fired power station which is located on the right bank of the river Velika Morava near the town of Svilajnac.
 * the TPP Kostolac Power Plant, which comprises the 640 megawatt TPP Kostolac A plant and the 281 megawatt TPP Kostolac B. The TPP Kostolac A plant also produces heating energy for heating the cities of Kostolac and Pozarevac.

Proposed coal-fired power station
EPS is also proposing to build the Kolubara B power station, 750 megawatts station comprising two 325 MW generating units.

On June 30, 2011, EPS and Italy's Edison signed a preliminary deal to jointly develop two coal-fired units in Serbia generating a combined 750 megawatts. Edison pledged to build the units, which would be EPS' first new coal-fired capacity in 20 years. A feasibility study is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012. After that the two utilities will set up a joint venture. They gave no estimation of the cost. The joint venture is for the Kolubara B power station.

Under the proposal, Edison offered EPS a 36.4 percent stake in the new company in which EPS had already invested 300 million euros ($424.8 million) back in 1988 until putting the construction on hold due to lack of funds. EPS issued a tender for the construction of 750 MW and 650 MW coal-fired power plants in 2009, part of its Nikola Tesla (TNT) coal-fired power complex with an existing capacity of 3,300 MW. It had earlier put the construction cost of both plants at around 1.6 billion euros ($2.3 billion). No bidder has expressed interest in building the 650 MW capacity and EPS earlier said it might announce a new tender for the unit.

Coal mines
The two lignite mining fields in Serbia are in the Kolubara and Kostolac basins. The open cut mines in the Kolubara basin produce approximately three-quarters of the lignite in Serbia and supply EPS's TPP Kolubara Power Plant, TPP Nikola Tesla Power Plant and the TPP Morava Power Plant. Mines in the Kostolac basin supply the TPP Kostolac Power Plant.

EPS states that the coal mines associated with power stations in Serbia have a "potential annual production of around 38 million tons."

An EPS subsidiary, MB Kolubara plc, operates four coal mines -- the Polje B mine, the Polje D mine, the Tamnava Istok mine and the Tamnava Zapad mine.

Another EPS subsidiary, OPM Kostolac, currently three open-pit mines -- the Drmno mine, the Cirikovac mine and the Klenovnik mine -- which supply the Kostolac A and B power plants.

Europe and coal

 * Austria and coal
 * Belgium and coal
 * Bulgaria and coal
 * France and coal
 * Germany and coal
 * Greece and coal
 * Hungary and coal
 * Italy and coal
 * Kosovo and coal
 * Netherlands and coal
 * Norway and coal
 * Poland and coal
 * United Kingdom and coal
 * World Bank and coal

Background information

 * Professor Bozo Kolonja (University of Belgrade University, Faculty of Mining and Geology), The Serbian Mining Industry, 18th Annual General Meeting, Belgrade, Serbia, June 23-27, 2007.
 * European Environment Agency, European Pollutant Emission Register. (This has a list of power stations and their current emissions).